History of APTI

Key People

C.G. Jung published Psychological Types (1921) to benchmark his observations of the patterns in how people think about and act on their experiences. He was very concerned with the psychological costs of “one-sidedness”; therefore, he wanted readers to know how these patterns can take hold of their mindset and approach to life. He also wanted them to understand that growth means expanding how they see and understand experience.

Jung is a controversial figure for many reasons. He made many propositions about the psyche and the role of symbols in how we adapt to life. Some of his propositions cannot be tested with traditional methodologies, making the claims questionable from a scientific perspective. In Psychological Types, he proposed eight mental functions. As identified and described by Jung, the eight functions are complex and deeper in the way the psyche works than any brief description can provide. Here is an overview of the primary purpose of the mental functions:

Perceiving Functions

• Introverted Sensing is about the exactness of sensory information.
• Introverted Intuiting is about a flow of images and patterns in the imagination.
• Extraverted Sensing is about external sensory awareness and action.
• Extraverted Intuiting is about seeing and expressing patterns, connections, and trends.

Judging Functions

• Introverted Thinking is about identifying and verifying propositions and theories.
• Introverted Feeling is about deciding by aligning ideals and values.
• Extraverted Thinking is about analytical precision and logical sequencing.
• Extraverted Feeling is about connecting and finding a human thread in experience.

Over time, Jung wrote many variations of how these eight functions work. He noted that while there are “superior” and “inferior” functions, these designations always related to what is primary or hidden to our conscious awareness.

Isabel Briggs Myers and Katharine Briggs had been observing individuals in their community and social networks and created a crude system of patterns. When they read Jung’s work, they recognized that they were on to some important observations about differences in the people they knew. Myers wanted to create an “indicator” of psychological type to help with identifying the natural interests and preferences of others; she was especially focused on military career exploration. Myers, for 10 years, was a paid consultant of the Educational Test Services (ETS). Her indicator, which became known as the MBTI, was published by ETS, and for a decade, individuals who completed standardized achievement tests also took the MBTI Research Form.

Myers lived long enough to see her instrument completed by 1 million people before her death in 1981. ETS had agreed to move data and the indicator to Consulting Psychologists Press (CPP) in Palo Alto, California. Today, CPP is called the Myers Briggs Company, Inc. Myers and Briggs’ work is documented in Mother’s Light, Daughter’s Journey by Frances Wright Saunders.

Myers led an amazing life. She graduated from Swarthmore at 16 and was constantly investigating her father’s measurement methods. When she decided to create the “Indicator,” she was methodical and systematic about analyzing items for her tool. Since Myers’ lifetime, the MBTI has been revised three times by teams of statisticians and psychometricians. They used IRT statistics (a powerful statistical tool based on a random sampling of the US population) which is today the gold standard for validating such instruments. Astonishingly, 40 years later, most of her items survived this rigorous analysis.

By the late 1960s, Myers knew there were many aspects of each of the preferences that she had chosen to measure. She created a tool to sort four dichotomies: Extraversion-Introversion, Sensing-Intuiting, Thinking-Feeling, and Judging-Perceiving. She reasoned that Jung had proposed opposite mental processes (e.g., Sensing-Intuiting) so she constructed her tool this way. She developed the Judging-Perceiving scale as a way to identify dominant and auxiliary mental functions.

Mary McCaulley, Ph.D., a faculty member at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, discovered the MBTI while looking for a tool to work with underserved health populations. Myers and McCaulley became fast friends and collaborators and founded the Center for the Application of Type (CAPT) at the University. McCaulley immersed herself in data from the MBTI and responded to a growing number of professionals using the tool by collecting data and developing training to help them use the tool appropriately. The Association for Psychological Type (APT) was founded out of these efforts. McCaulley and CAPT managed the Association until the late 1980s, when APT hired an independent staff to manage activities and programs. McCaulley authored numerous articles on the MBTI and psychological type.

Thomas Carskadon, Ph.D., faculty member at Mississippi State University, developed the Research in Psychological Type journal, which became the Journal of Psychological Type – “the official research journal of the Association for Psychological Type.” In the early 2000s, publication of the journal shifted to CAPT. Carskadon was and is a relentless promoter of research about psychological type. As the years flew by, the articles in the journal focused on type theory and type applications, with multiple tools in addition to the MBTI. Today, the library managed by CAPT continues to provide access to the research.

Katherine Myers, daughter-in-law of Isabel Myers, became APT’s first president. A long line of individuals have served as leaders on the board of directors, and as key chapter or type community leaders to further the primary mission of the association that became the Association for Psychological Type International, APTI. Educators, consultants, psychologists, entrepreneurs, and researchers have given uncountable hours to keep the organization growing and providing learning opportunities for people around the globe. More than 1000 leaders have provided guidance and support from the local to the international level to ensure that the mission of promoting the constructive use of differences and effective use of psychological type continues.

David Keirsey, Ph.D., of California State University at Fullerton, published Please Understand Me which launched a contemporary introduction to temperament theory. This theory has considerable overlaps with psychological type. Otto Kroeger, Linda Berens, Naomi Quenk, Roger Pearman, Jane Kise, and Dario Nardi published numerous books that were best sellers and continue to inform users of psychological type today. All these authors and association members have played a key part in the growth of the use of psychological type and the expansion of APTI.

Members of APTI are also crucial players in APTI’s growth and development. Their continuing interest in the use of psychological type and their earnest desire to promote the ethical use of type have motivated the organization throughout its history. From the earliest small groups of type users gathering, to the conferences loaded with a plethora of research and application reports, APTI has sought to engage a supportive community in this work. Just as all institutions must adjust to survive, APTI has changed its structure and programs to meet the needs of a changing market of users of psychological type.

Though not a “person,” Consulting Psychologists Press, Inc., (CPP), founded by Stanford University faculty member Jack Black, Ph.D., played a critical part of the journey in expanding the use of psychological type and the growth of APTI. Before CPP published the MBTI, Educational Testing Services (ETS) had the MBTI Research Form; with the transfer to CPP, Form F became the primary form used to access type information. Originally used primarily by ministers and priests for marriage counseling, some career counselors had also discovered the tool. After CPP’s release of Form F, the MBTI became widely available to career counselors and personal development counselors, and later to organizational development consultants. Eventually, CPP became the Myers Briggs Company, which continues to publish Step I and Step II versions of the tool.

Today, technology has made the concepts of psychological type more accessible, with millions of websites and millions of users. There also has been an enormous increase in the number of assessment tools and publications that promote psychological type. And the research continues.

Key Moments in Time

Key moments are the result of hundreds of people having conversations about psychological type, and endless hours of work to develop APTI. Some moments are much more important than others. These “moments” are events, circumstances, or forces that resulted in an important outcome for the association. Let’s consider “moments” in terms of their impact. For example, while APTI has promoted and sponsored conferences during the last four decades – no conference has dramatically altered the course of APTI’s development, except the founding session. However, some moments of significance have changed APTI’s character and focus.

Moment 1: Briggs and Myers Find C.G. Jung’s Work on Psychological Types

When Briggs and Myers found Jung’s Psychological Types, they discovered that a renowned European intellectual had confirmed their observations. Their work became a “cause” when Myers became convinced that an indicator of type patterns would help people find what is most satisfying in their work (especially in the military in WW II). With a methodical mind, Myers was determined to create an indicator using her knowledge of measurement gained from her father. Having her project taken on by Educational Testing Services (ETS) allowed her to collect and analyze data in their offices. She had the assistance of psychologist and psychometric genius, David Saunders, Ph.D., a member of the ETS staff. The MBTI Research Form would lay the groundwork for many thousands to discover psychological type.

Moment 2: McCaulley and Myers Create a Collaboration

Mary McCaulley, Ph.D., a faculty member at the University of Florida, found a review of the MBTI in the Buros Mental Measurements Yearbook. With persistence, she reached out to Myers to explore her “indicator.” Her efforts would result in a collaboration that gave birth to the Center for the Application of Type (CAPT) and eventually the Association for Psychological Type. CAPT continues to provide application resources and a library of research articles on psychological type.

Moment 3: Publication by CPP (now the Myers Briggs Company)

Founded by Jack Black, a faculty member at Stanford, Consulting Psychologists Press (CPP), now the Myers Briggs Company, became the publisher of the MBTI and provided the first wide access to the MBTI Form F. CPP published a number of assessments with the goal of promoting individual development. Black was not interested in assessments of abnormal behavior or psychological mental health issues; his goal was to publish tools for self-understanding and personal growth. CPP published the MBTI from 1975 to 1981; before her death, CPP informed Myers that 1 million people had taken the MBTI Form F. In the years that followed, there was exponential growth in the purchase and use of the MBTI and associated supporting materials and books.

Moment 4: CAPT and APT Take Different Paths

As APT grew, its operations needed support beyond what CAPT staff could provide. APT leadership promoted a qualifying program to allow non-psychologists to access the tool. Several other qualifying programs were also developed to meet market demands. Between sponsoring qualifying programs and conferences and meeting local chapter requirements, APT and CAPT had different needs. CAPT promoted its mission to publish and train MBTI users in the “constructive use of differences.” APT pursued its mission of educating and informing users of psychological type about appropriate and effective ways to use the theory and the MBTI instrument. Moving forward, only the publisher, CPP, and CAPT provided training programs that allowed individuals who were not qualified by educational standards to access the MBTI.

APT conferences became a key opportunity to connect with individuals in other countries that were also developing associations. At the 1991 Richmond Conference, leaders from Britain, Australia, Canada, and Japan were invited to discuss possible collaborative efforts. Shortly after these meetings, APT added International to its legal identification and the Association for Psychological Type International (APTI) became a reality.

Moment 5: Supporting the Journal of Psychological Type

The expansive use of the MBTI led naturally to research articles. With the help of Tom Carskadon, Ph.D., a faculty member at the University of Mississippi, APT established the Journal of Psychological Type. In collaboration, CAPT and APT solicited research for publication in the journal. Professionals in education, psychological fields, and consultants provided research on application questions, such as using type to help with learning disabilities to promote effective teams. CAPT continues to publish the journal and maintains access to previous editions through its library.

Moment 6: Publication of the 1985 Manual (and subsequent editions)

While ETS was publishing her work, Myers prepared a 1962 manual that explained the theory and the data collected to date; it also reviewed the traditional methods of reliability and validity applied to MBTI data. It took 23 years for a second manual to be published. The 1985 manual provided the most complete summary of type data available, with hundreds of studies summarized and reported. It also included updated studies on reliability and validity, along with chapters on applications and use of type.

Myers had been busy analyzing facets of the type preferences, which were the foundation for Form K and Form J: K had 20 facet scales and J had 27. The manual for Form K was published in 1987 and eventually led to Step I—the four-letter code and Step II—the four-letter code plus 20 facets. This resulted in augmenting existing training programs and developing new programs to explain Step II results and type development. David Saunders, the psychometric professional who had worked with Myers at ETS, was central to the development of the longer reports and facet scales.

The 1998 manual that replaced the 1985 manual contained the most sophisticated statistical analysis available for the MBTI. Using IRT (Item Response Theory) statistics and a national random sample, the MBTI was “rebuilt” using the most current and widely accepted powerful statistical techniques. The same method was used to rebuild the longer versions of the assessment and produce a new manual for Step II.

The 1975 Form F was used to produce the 1985 manual. Most of Myers’ items survived IRT analysis and were incorporated into completely rebuilt Form M (now Step I) and Form Q (now Step II). The 1988 revision that incorporated IRT was extraordinary: Even today, while many tools have been validated on factor analytic models, IRT has not been used to analyze any other personality-related tool. There have been three manuals released after Myers’ death, and in 2015, using international samples, they performed a latent attribute factor analysis to confirm the preferences for an international audience.

Step II and the 1998 manual fed an international growth of the use of the MBTI. In 2018 the publisher used internal samples to do a factor analysis of the dimensions of the assessment and published the first international manual supplement.

Moment 7: Criticism of Psychological Type

As psychological type grew in popularity and use, critics of the framework – and especially the MBTI – emerged from multiple arenas. The National Science Foundation published a critical report in 1993. Articles in psychological journals argued about the efficacy of the model. The Journal of Psychological Type published critical articles. McCaulley noted that once you are “big,” there are lots of targets on your back. Some critical reports raised important questions for inquiry; most of these questions have been addressed.

APTI has responded to criticisms of psychological type and type-related tools by encouraging reviewers to be fair-minded in looking at and comparing assessments to psychological type. All the tools use standard methods for showing reliability and validity, and all the studies for psychological type are above standards.

All tools and methods have their limitations, but this has not stopped the rapid growth of the use of psychological type. Individuals find the model practical and useful in understanding differences in a rational and meaningful way. APTI is optimistic that as data are gathered and viewed in new ways, Jung’s propositions will remain as vibrant today as they have been for more than 100 years.

Moment 8: Additional Measurements and Methods

“Is that all there is?” was a question that many APTI members asked as publications and new research questions emerged. Researchers began to look at aspects of development not included in the MBTI. Research teams looked at the effect of stress on type development, others looked at different aspects of the preferences, and still others looked at a return to Jung’s eight mental functions as a basis for understanding type.

A number of publishers used test development methods to promote different ways of assessing and looking at type. Others used qualitative methods for looking at behavior patterns through videos and interaction patterns. More approaches to identifying typological elements emerge as the years go by. APTI members come to psychological type through various means, through a range of assessment tools, workshops, or other certifications on personality patterns.

Moment 9: Rapid Technology Utilization

Millions of websites present cogent information on psychological type (some that claim to provide useful information do not). Self-paced eLearning programs provide access to measures of psychological type. APTI meetings and conferences are now virtual. International health challenges brought about rapid technological developments that forced organizations to pivot to digital-based delivery of content. All assessment tools now use web-based platforms for administering and scoring surveys. Technology has rapidly expanded the number of individuals who engage with type. APTI’s mission has not changed. APTI continues seeking to connect individuals from all over the world in the appropriate, effective, and ethical use of psychological type.

A Story of Commitment to an Idea Over Time

For many users, psychological type is the only constructive model of human differences. Understanding type gives self-affirmation and an understanding of others. Understanding type gives a new dimension to life. This narrative is replicated thousands of times each year. Psychological type has its source in the human psyche, which Jung believed merely needed to be exposed to the light of insight.